Minnesota Vikings linebacker Cameron Smith announced Saturday via social media that he requires open-heart surgery to repair a bicuspid aortic valve and won't play in 2020.
Smith said he was born with the issue, but his "severely enlarged" heart - a potentially life-threatening issue - was only discovered after he underwent additional testing following his positive COVID-19 test.
"There is a surgery that will allow me to continue to play football as soon as I am healed and cleared and I didn't think twice about going with that one," Smith wrote. "By no means am I ready to be done playing football, there is still so much more I want to accomplish on the field."
The 23-year-old was Minnesota's fifth-round pick out of USC in 2019. Smith appeared in five games for the Vikings in 2019 and registered six tackles.
Minnesota added some depth at linebacker earlier Saturday by signing free agent Quentin Poling.